Can opening key guide



July 24, 1956 F. HYER 2,755,957

CAN OPENING KEY GUIDE Filed Jan. 29, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Free //5/er INVENTOR.

BY WM 0% A TTOR/Vf V July 24, 1956 HYER 2,755,957

CAN OPENING KEY GUIDE Filed Jan. 29, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fr e c/ flye/ INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY United States Patent CAN OPENING KEY GUIDE Fred Hyer, Center, Tex.

Application January 29, 1954, Serial No. 406,962

1 Claim. (Cl. 220-52) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in a can opening key guide.

It is an object of this invention to provide a guide for the conventional can opening key that will ensure accurate and uniform movement of the key around the can as the strip of tin from the can is wound around the key.

In many types of tin canned goods, a cutting strip is indented around the can adjacent the top of the can. A small key is provided which has a slot in its extended end and a short piece of material is left outside the can which forms the start of the intended strip. The key is used by inserting the extended end of the strip material through the slot in the key and then manually rotating the key to wind the strip on the key and thus severing the top of the can from the body of the can and providing access to the cans contents. In many instances considerable difiiculty is experienced in keeping the key in exact position to maintain the ball of wound strip directly over the indentations while completing the cut. Failure to keep the key straight and aligned with these indentations will cause the strip material to slip off of the wound portion and often makes it impossible to complete the cut. It is another object of this invention ot provide a simple and inexpensive attachment for cans of this type that will maintain the strip material on the key in one continuous ball until the cut is complete.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention is more particularly described in the following specifications and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container employing the invention.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the invention.

Figure 3 is a side view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of another form of the invention.

Figure 5 is a side view taken on the line 55 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a top view of another form of the invention.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of another form of the invention, as applied to a strip of material to be placed around the container, and

Figure 8 is a top view of the form shown in Figure 7, partly in cross section.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a can, such as a coffee can, having a marked strip 2 adjacent the upper portion of the can one end of which is extended and lies flat against the can. A substantially rectangular member 4, of rigid material such as wire, and formed in a continuous loop, with its longitudinal sides flattened at a point approximately midway of its ends, and having ports 5, 5, in the flattened portions of the side members is placed over the strip adjacent the extended end thereof. The conventional key 6, usually provided with cans of this type, may be projected through the ports 5 until the slot 7 in the shank of the key 6 is between the parallel sides of the member 4. The extended end of the strip material is then inserted in the slot 7 of the key 6, and the key is then manually rotated and the strip material wound around the key. As the material is thus wound around the key it forms a ball, bearing against the sides of the member 4, and guiding the path of the key around the can.

The forms shown in Figures 4, 5, and 6 are merely illustrations of methods of manufacture of the item by a wire bending process.

The form shown in Figure 7 is designed for use in conjunction with a paper collar. In this form the guide 4 is manufactured of light sheet material such as tin, having grooved edges 9, adapted to receive the edge of a port in the paper collar 10, and by exerting pressure against the grooved edges of the member 4, securing same to the collar 10. Of course it is understood that any suitable means of securing the member 4 to the collar 10 may be employed. In this form a strip on each side of the member 4 is bent upwardly and backwardly to form key receiving means 11. The collar, which may be preferably formed of paper, is mounted on the can with the member 4 positioned directly over the extended end of the strip 2. The key 6 is then engaged with the extended end of the strip 2 and manually rotated winding the material of the strip 2 around the key 6 and engaging the key receiving means 11 as the winding proceeds and the member 4 becoming a guide as is herein above set out.

The method of opening cans by guiding the roll of cut strip is set out as follows: In any type of can where a key is employed to remove a strip of material from the can to effect an opening thereof, a guide is provided for the key that will permit the sides of the strip, as wound on the key, to bear against and be confined by the guide, so that the wound material is retained on one roll until the cut is completed.

While the foregoing are considered preferred forms of the invention, it is by way of illustration only, the broad principle of the invention being defined by the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A can opening key guide for use on cans having a circumferentially extending tear strip in its side wall, comprising: a substantially rectangular framework, a bandlike collar of sheet material adapted to be mounted on said can in overlying relation to said tear strip, said collar having a substantially rectangular opening therein of substantially the same dimensions as the outside dimensions of said framework, said opening having its longitudinal axis in the plane of said collar, means on the periphery of said framework securing the entire periphery thereof to the margin about the opening in said collar, and key journaling means on the longitudinal sides of said framework at the mid-points thereof, said journaling means being in alignment transversely of said framework.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 523,465 Dalton July 24, 1894 1,199,790 Holcomb Oct. 3, 1916 1,784,064 Griswold Dec. 9, 1930 1,826,481 Root Oct. 6, 1931 1,911,613 Epstein May 30, 1933 2,660,331 Inman Nov. 24, 1953 

